Harry Potter and the Myth of the Abelards
by villette
Summary: AU set in OTP. A muggle girl who bears a striking semblence to the potions master is found unconscious at the gates of Hogwarts. Yes, it's the plot we all hate with the one character we'd all love to stab in the back the Mary Sue.
1. Breach

"Albus, I think a Muggle has breached the wards," Snape's head appeared in the fireplace of the headmaster's office.  
  
"Are you sure, Severus? The anti-Muggle wards must need to be replaced soon," Albus sighed. "Call Hagrid, I'll fire-call Minerva. Thank Merlin it's summer."   
  
Severus Snape's head disappeared as Albus pinched some powder into the black pit under the mantel. "Minerva, meet us in the grand entrance, Severus says a Muggle has gotten onto the grounds."   
  
The three wizards congregated in the grand foyer, wondering how someone could have gotten past the school's defenses.   
  
"Where are they Severus? Are you sure it's not a Deatheater?"   
  
"I am positive Albus. You know that I am the staff member that is alerted by the wards when a Muggle gets too close—  
  
"Must be that famous charm you seem to have for them, Severus, that the castle chose you to do this job," Minerva McGonogall piped in.   
  
"Yes, inviting them in for tea and scones is just the ticket to getting us all exposed!"  
  
"Now, now you two. Are you sure it's a Muggle, Severus?"  
  
"Well, headmaster," Snape paused, his pale face frowning, "I am unsure. There seemed to be a hint of a wizard's magical signature, it was as if the ward was confused about where the person was friend or foe, wizard or not."  
  
"Ah, so it could be a Muggle-born wizard who doesn't know they're a wizard."  
  
"Albus, you surprise me with your wealth of knowledge of these things," Severus sneered.  
  
"Hmrphrm," Minerva chorlted, hiding her face with her hand.  
  
"Severus, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you just complimented me," Dumbledore smiled.  
  
"Hagrid is waiting for us in his hut," Severus continued, "We should split up once we get there. No telling what's going on."  
  
"A prudent move Severus," Albus noted. The trio walked down the steps of the castle, the humid summer air greeting their cool bodies.   
  
Snape, in his billowing layers of black robes and high-collared shirt buttoned all the way up his throat, was already sweltering in the mid-July heatwave Scotland was experiencing.  
  
"At least the children aren't here, although I can't fathom Voldemort attacking in the summer when no one is here," Minerva said, wiping sweat off her brow as she knocked on Hagrid's door.   
  
"H'llo professors. Me and Fang 'ere was 'bout to come lookin' fer ye."  
  
"The wards indicated the breach was near the gates," Severus sneered at Hagrid's wolfhound, whose nose was wiggling after having picked up the foreign scent.  
  
"I suggest we go see what this Muggle is," the headmaster's eyes twinkled merrily. "But still we must take precautions, wands out everyone. Severus, you stick to the forest on the left side, Hagrid you stick to the right side. Minerva and I will take the road."  
  
The partially obscured blue sky poked out from drifting white clouds as the professors approached the gate from their various positions, the stone walls upholding the intertwined black metal bars which formed a Hogwart's crest in the middle. To a Muggle, they were supposed to appear broken down and dangerously hanging from their hinges. The trees of the Forbidden Forest waved gently in the wind, their leaves whispering amoung the branches.  
  
Snape darted into the shade and darkness of the forest, cursing the day the castle's anti-Muggle wards had been assigned to him. He pulled at his collar as sweat built up on his skin, trying to get more air into his lungs that the heat and humidity seemed to be stealing from him. His eyes scanned the underbrush and the trunks of the trees. Sweat trickled down into his eyes from his greasy hair, and his stomach churned.  
  
"Damn," Serverus swiped his face, his hand smeared sweat across his thin cheekbones. What he'd give to be back in the cool dungeons, prepaing potions for the upcoming term. But there was something wrong; a Muggle had breeched the wards.   
  
Well, the wards classified it as a Muggle, Snape leaned against a tree. It was impossible to detect an intruder who didn't want to be seen. There was a spell, but of course, there was a spell for almost everything and this spell was particulary draining. It allowed the caster to reveal things within a six to eight foot radius, in all directions. The only problem was it revealed and amplified everything -- in this case, the forest's workings, the sound of dirt settling, moles, worms, wind, leaves, or better yet, he could see through trees, thick underbrush, even the ground as the spell revealed to the castor what was around in all four cardinal directions. A wizard had to be powerful to not only cast it, but deal with all the information flooding the senses. He suspected the spell was the reason Albus knew everything that went on in the castle, well almost everything. The spell could not see through wards, thankfully.  
  
"Passum pastesco silva," Snape muttered, literally meaning, spread out to reveal the forest. Instantly his senses were overloaded, and Severus looked through his eyes to see a transparent forest, and ground, the physical world becoming a ghostly-like phantasmogoria of pale images. At least the colors were muted a bit. He began to walk forward toward the gates, his ears catching all the scrunging noises of the grub worms, the chomping of moles, the wind in the trees, leaves scratching up against each other in the breeze, the splintering crack of trees growing, birds chirping almost in symphony, the whisper of spiders, clucking of crickets, the buzzing of flies, the fluttering of several harmless magical creatures and the distant approaching hooves of a centaur pounding on the ground. He stopped to pinch the bridge of his nose, Merlin what a headache.   
  
The gates where nearing, the metal creaking in the wind, he could see his deatheater robes and mask hidden in the stone pillars of the gates, he could pick up the slobbering hound Hagrid insisted was a good watch dog. He could not detect beyond the wards of the grounds, thankfully. He felt weak and his legs were beginning to cramp. Minerva and Albus' voices could just barely be heard, carrying on the breeze. Where was the blasted Muggle?  
  
"Severus! Oi! Here!" Hagrid's voice rocheted off the insides of his head.  
  
-------  
  
This is my first attempt at fan fiction. This story has been broken into chapters b/c it was too cumbersome to be taken in all at once. Also, it is a work in progress and has not been betad. I also broke my laptop and have not been able to write any more on it in several weeks. I will be updating the new chapters as soon as I ftp my old files to my new computer. Thanks for your patience.  



	2. The Finding

"Finite Incantatum," Severus whispered, breathing hard, the roaring thunder of Hagrid's yell almost sending him into unconsciousness. He staggared toward the sound.

Albus and Minerva were stooped over a robed figure, which Severus could tell had fallen bonelessly into a heap just after opening the gate. Perhaps not a Muggle, Severus deduced from the pale midnight-blue wizard's traveling cloak.

"Wizard, Albus? Can you tell?"

"She seems to be exhausted, Severus," Minerva piped in, glaring at the potions master.

"She's not a diversion? This could be meant to lure us away from the castle, Albus," Severus snapped. His headache had just reached blinding porportions. He sighed, massaging the bridge of his nose. If Voldemort were to attack now, Severus shivered at his use of the Dark Lord's name. I'm losing it.

"To be safe, Severus, for your satisfaction," Albus looked up at Severus, who was leaning himself against the gate for support. He pointed his wand at the still-unconscious form "protratum hostis," and a clear aura of color formed over the girl. "See Severus, not an enemy."

"Suit yourself Albus, the Dark Lord has many ways of controlling those whom he wishes to use."

"Well, she must be seen to at once," Minerva quipped. "We cannot assess her injuries here and Snape is in no condition to do a scan. Headmaster, I suggest the Hospital Wing immediately. And you too Severus, I can see the headache you're nursing."

He glared at Albus and Minerva and Hagrid. He pushed off from the gate, and the world suddenly started spinning. He groaned, slumping to the ground before the pain of the headache overwhelmed him.

"Defigocorpus," Dumbledoore stood, not wanting to cause any aggrevation to the girl's still-unknown injuries. "Hagrid, could you please bring Severus to the Hospital Wing?"

"Poppy!" Minerva called, "We have two patients for you!"

Poppy hurried over to the bed Dumbledoore laid the girl on and cast a quick look at Severus still in Hagrid's arms. "Put him next to the girl, Hagrid. Tell me what happened, Albus," Poppy said, waving her wand over the girl, muttering, "vulneris appareo."

"Severus fire-called me, saying a Muggle had breached the wards. We all went down to investigate, and found this girl just inside the gates. We coudln't detect any dark magic on her, though, so it's doubtbul she's a lackey of Voldemort. I immobilized her before I brought her here. I was afraid she'd have hidden injuries."

"Well, she's exhausted. And her feet are bruised from walking. If she's a wizard then she must not know much about wizarding life or she might have flooed into Hogsmeade. Some of her joints are sore and inflamed. She looks like she's walked hundreds of miles. And she's a bit malnourished. Nothing we can't fix, though she's got a bit of a chest cold and a mild fever that will keep her with me for a few days. We'll let her sleep for now. I don't want to give her anything without knowing a medical history.

"Now Severus," the matron turned toward her other patient."I suspect he cast passum pastesco to try to reveal any enemies or muggles hiding out in the forest. A bit of an overwhelming spell - even I have trouble comprehending all the sensations coming through my mind."

"He will need some anti-headache drought and a dreamless sleep potion. Probably some Pepper-Up too," Poppy sighed tiredly, not even waving her wand over the man who would probably resent her for it if he woke up to find her standing over him. She'd been doing inventory on the Hospital Wing, a tiresome chore. I'm not exactly firing on all cylinders here, she groaned inwardly.

"You know he will fight you if you try to keep him here Poppy," Minerva frowned. "Well he's not waking up, Minerva, and that's concerning. He may have been fatigued before he cast the spell."

"Or suffering from the heat," Minerva cut in. "You must scan him Poppy. Look at all the clothing he's wearing. It's 88 degrees outside and Severus dresses like it's the North Pole! He's probably suffering from heat exhaustion!"

"You're right," Poppy's scan was producing a list of vitals and problems in the air above Severus' chest. "His blood pressure is fluctuating and he's still sweating profusely. His heart rhythm is a bit off. He's bordering on heatstroke. We've got to cool him."

"Will he be all right, Poppy?" Albus butted in.

"We'll have to work quickly. I need your help, Albus. Minerva, Hagrid, you'll have to wait outside."

"Help me strip him, Ablus, we've got to get these clothes off of him. You know him best. He'll be more comfortable with you helping than Minerva."

Poppy's wand spelled off the buttons to Severus' collared shirt, the round enamel stones flying. Underneath, Snape was wearing another layer of clothing - his long underwear. "Surely it's not this cold in the dungeons," Albus muttered as he and Poppy managed to remove all but Snape's knickers.

"I think I know what's going on here," Poppy said as she spelled ice packs to Snape's grion, neck and underarms. "He's been working on some cold and allergy potions for the students. Some of the ingredients must be kept at the freezing level before they are brewed, lest they lose their potency. Snape probably spelled his lab to the freezing level in order to make large quantities of potion all at once, instead of piecemeal. It's hard to keep Artic poppy potent when it isn't at its normal temperature, even with cooling spells. Factored with the fumes, the cold and then rushing outside in the middle of this heat wave have probably made him ill."

"Poppy, you never cease to amaze me at how well you know what Severus does."

"When I send him a potions list four feet long, I know what he'll be doing for weeks. He'll need fluids," Poppy noted, casting a cooling charm on the pale, prone man. "Hold his head, I"m going to try to get this cooling draft and anti-headache potion into him."

"Doesn't he need to be conscious for that?"

Poppy forced a smile at him. "The longer Severus stays unconscious, the more chance I have to treat him." She tipped the vials to the potion master's lips and dribbled in a bit of each.

Albus massaged the man's throat as Severus swallowed. "He's not putting up a fight, Poppy. That's not like Severus."

"Just wait. He will. That spell must have flooded his senses. His mind is probably in shock from the combination of the heat collaspe and the spell. It may be a while before he's able to sort things through again. But his vitals are stabilzing. He should wake soon. You'll have to help me get some more potions into him."

Poppy turned away for a moment to check her other patient, who was sleeping soundly. "And I bet this is a shock to him, seeing someone who looks like him," the matron continued.

"Excuse me, Poppy?" the twinkle reappered in the headmaster's eyes.

"You didn't notice headmaster? Look, the black refined hair, the high cheekbones, the pale complexion, the thin limbs, the prominent nose. This girl is a Snape if I ever saw one."

"We'll wait to hear her story. I am more concerned with Severus' state of mind right now and his safety. If this is a deatheater plan to infiltrate Severus' defenses then we must act prudently," Dumbledore cast a binding spell over the girl's bed. "I don't even think Severus noticed her, he was too ill already."

Poppy nodded before heading back to her chores. Dumbledoore conjured a chintz chair between the beds, settling in for a day's waiting for the sick and injured to return to the land of the wizarding.


	3. Things You Cannot Control

His thoughts were askew, that at least he knew. Trees, Potter in the trees. Potter? No potters here. Only mist, silvery mist. There no Potter. Worms. Wormtail. Grubs chewing on Wormtail? No. Door. Albus. Dog slobber. Ground. Dark. Warm, moist. Cool. Freezing. Shiver. Ice. Breeze scratching robes. No. Me hitting tree. No. Metal tree. Snakes slithering in metal tree. Why? Mind works like wind, screwed ground.

He moaned, and a tree with white leaves took his branch into its trunk. "Severus?" the tree spoke. Another tree walked into his view of slightly cracked eyes. "Poppy, should we try a spell?"

"Only mild ones Albus. The magic may confuse his system more if it's too powerful."

"Claro," the white tree whispered and the world came into focus a bit more in Severus' mind.

"Headtree?" The whisper passed the pale man's lips with a tinge of fear.

"Not exactly Severus," Albus chuckled. I'm going to have fun with that one later, the headmaster thought. "Shhh. You are safe. Here, drink this," Albus pushed a vial to the man's lips, and Severus drank pliantly.

"Wild chamomile?" the potions master's forehead screwed up in confusion, the flower's taste sticking in his mouth. His eyes went wide in a small panic. Poison? Someone, a wormtail, death. No. Headtree. Hospital. Safe.

"Yes, Severus, it is an ingredient in the anti-headache draught," Poppy's voice explained softly, her soft hand feeling his pulse. She stood up and went to her cabinet. The potion master's eyes sluggishly followed her across the room.

"Albus, this one too. It should help clear up his mind some more."

"Blechhh! What --?"

"An infusion of ginseng in powdered Herb of the Cross; it should restore your nervous system and raise your blood pressure. It's still a bit low," Poppy said, thinking to herself "And help calm you, you stubborn mule."

"I see some of Severus is still with us," Albus mused as Severus murmured incoherently, his eyes blank and confused.

"Nothing can take him down, Headmaster. He'll be vexing us from beyond the grave someday. He needs sleep for the potions to work. If he's awake, he'll try to fight the effects in his mind."

"Rest Severus," Albus' hand gently brushed Snape head as he whispered _dormio._

The wizard turned to Poppy, who was checking the girl over. "Is she better?"

"Yes, Albus. Her fever is down, but only slightly. She's still exhausted. It may be awhile before I can get any potions into her."

"I think it is imperative that we talk to her. Can she be woken, Poppy?"

"Yes, Albus, as long as she gets some sleep afterward. And I could get some potions into her.

Just as the headmaster raised his wand, green eyes cracked through the long, dark eye lashes of the Infirmary's second patient. The tired eyes glanced from matron to headmaster, confusedly taking in the situation. Albus could see the girl's brain trying to work on less than all its cylinders.

"How do you feel, child?" Albus took the girl's hand in his weathered palm.

"Safe," a choked gargle hid the voice. It wasn't the answer Albus was expecting.

"How did you know about the castle?"

"Mom. She... school here." The headmaster sat back a little, trying to place the features. The girl looked exactly like the potion's master, save for the eyes who if he didn't know any better, were those of Lilly Potter's.

"And who was your mum?" Dumbledoore waved his hand at Poppy, who was hovering at the edge of the bed with a fever-reducing potion, a vial of Pepper Up potion and some dreamless sleep.

"Gemini Rose Turtleson."

Dumbledoore sat back, oxygen momentarily flushed from his lungs. Poppy had the good reflexes to keep the potions she'd just dropped from smashing on the stone floor with a quick spell.

"Lilly Potter's cousin," Albus breathed. The girl nodded, hesitantly, panic cornering on the edges of her brain.

"Mum said...I'd be... safe... to come here. Albus... knows... everything."

"Shh, shhh. There there dear," Poppy pushed her way into the space between the beds. "Some water, and you do have such a cold. Do you have any allergies?"

"Chamomile. and thistle."

"Hmmm. No fever reducing potion then. You'll have to sweat it out I'm afraid. But here, dreamless sleep," Poppy tipped the vials and smoothed the covers as the patient fell back on the covers.

"You have some explaining to do, Albus." Poppy turned to her office, leaving the old man shell shocked in his seat.

Fawkes trilled lightly as Albus absently scratched his white beard in his office tower. No one had heard from Gemini Turtleson in years. She was presumed dead. And now a girl, a teen-age wizard girl, who apparently had been living as a Muggle and looked like Severus Snape. What a fine kettle of gillyweed this was.

Albus sighed. He prided himself on knowing things. Things just didn't happen unless circumstances were out of his control, and Albus Dumbledoore had plenty under his control, or so he liked to think.

"Yes, Fawkes, even I can't control everything," Albus said to his preening bird, wondering what it was he was supposed to know.

Thank you to those who are keeping up with this story. I now have a computer that has a decent word processing program. While this chapter has been written for several months, I have not been able to upload it. This is my first fan fic and I have no beta reader. You will notice the characters are not strict cannon as I have not mastered writing them yet. It will take a while for me to learn this. Please bear with me.


	4. Escape to Death?

Severus peered through eyes half-slitted open. Poppy hummed quietly to herself as she sorted potions into her cabinet. Severus knew he had about four hundred bottles of health-related potions left to brew and a few others Poppy needed for the upcoming school year. He knew he'd been here long enough. Three entire days! Merlin sake's alive! Albus had insisted he stay in bed and the ignamity of it tested Severus's sanity to the limit. He didn't even know what the matron had plied him with, but he wasn't used to seeking Poppy out to heal his ailments.

It was noon. Poppy's lunch would be delivered by the house-elves in two minutes, which she took in her office when not heading down to the Great Hall.

The potions master stood as quietly as he could, swaying dizzily for a few seconds. He hadn't been out of bed since the day the Muggle had arrived. No, wizard girl, Severus reminded himself.

"You really shouldn't be leaving," her tender alto whispered lightly. Poppy had restored her voice and the cold was clearing up.

Severus put on his best sneer.

"Children should be seen and not heard," he growled, counting on years of practiced stare-downs to put off the tattle-tale.

He whirled through the Hospital wing doors, momentum carrying him through a dizzy spell and down the corridor toward the dungeons. He slipped into his chambers, cool and dark, lightly musty with the dampness of hundreds of years' worth of mold and fungus growing slowly on the walls.

His first stop was for potions from his private stores, namely a Pepperup and a Restorative, which would clear up the rest of the spell's side effects. Poppy had refused to give them to him, saying she didn't want to harm his mind by healing it too fast.

"I am a potions master, surely I know what is good for my own mind," Snape grumbled.

He sank into the plush, dark green divan, popping the first vial and then the second, wondering if the girl would tell on him. Albus would be beating down his door soon.

His tired mind settled on the girl who looked familiar. Not a Muggle apparently. She had been quiet, but coughing regularly. Poppy had been able to do nothing since she was allergic to thistle and chamomile, two of the major ingredients in fever reducing and cough-suppressant potions. _Well, not all healing potions,_ Severus thought. _Actually helping a student, what was he coming to_? But he felt he knew her, knew he had to help her somehow. He sighed, pinching the thin skin between his eyes and rolled over on the dark navy couch, sinking into the warmth of sleep.

Severus woke to a fluttering in his chest, and an angry mediwitch.

"Severus Monoceros Snape! Wake up! Headmaster, quick."

Hands lifted him up into a sitting position. Vaguely, he noticed he was still in his own rooms, as another vial was pushed to his lips. He tried to swat it away with his hand, but found himself too weak to move and laboring for breath.

"Drink it or die, you stubborn hippogriff," Poppy's voice jumped into high falsetto, and he swallowed like an obedient child. His heart was still fluttering. _What was wrong?_

"Thank Merlin for your tracking charm, Albus."

Severus was sweating now, chilled to the bone.

Poppy was waving her wand again. "Severus, you always break what I fix, don't you?"

"Hmmm,mmm ahhhhhpppp," Severus tried to tell her to shove off, but nothing came out of his mouth. He was pulled back into something soft and tickly, Albus, who was holding him lightly to his chest.

"Hospital Wing, Poppy?"

"No, he's not stable enough yet. His heart is still reacting to the Pepper Up and the ginseng. After the heat stroke, his heart may not be able to take the strain."


	5. His Heart's Desire

Severus leaned back into Albus' chest, trying to breathe. Poppy tapped her wand repeatedly to his chest for the longest time, which irritated him to no end.

"Albus, can you cast an oxygen charm around us? Severus isn't getting enough air," Poppy said quietly, rummaging through her medical bag and pulling out a vial of purple liquid and a syringe.

"Draught of Living Death? Poppy, won't that put him under?" Albus waved his wand as a transparent dome formed over the settee where Severus, now unconscious, rested limply against the headmaster's chest.

"Actually, a small amount of the asphodel/wormwood mix should counteract the other potions' effects. It'll have to be administered directly to his heart, though. Do you have a good hold on him?"

Albus nodded, as Poppy drew her wand over the vial, extracting a minute amount of potion which filled the syringe. The matron spelled off Severus's pajama top and gently plunged the needle into the insensate potion master's still-quivering heart. She sighed as she banished the medical device with her wand, "He should go to Mungo's, Albus, but given his past, they would not care for him properly."

"I have faith in you Poppy. You are the Order's only mediwizard."

"It's not that Headmaster. Severus has just had his first heart attack due to mixing potions. I should have told him I'd given him ginseng. He would have known then not to take Pepperup or the restorative," the mediwitch wrung her hands and dabbed at the tear on her cheek. "This is as much my fault as his. I've nearly murdered our potions master."

"There, there, Poppy," Albus withered hand reached across Snape's prone form to caress the mediwitch's shoulder. "Severus didn't realize he wasn't completely healed from the heat stroke and the passum spell. He just thought he was. In his haste to get back to work, well, you know how he gets when he has projects going on."

"Well, he'll need round-the-clock monitoring for a few nights. It may be best to induce a slight coma so he can heal," Poppy said, levitating Severus from the headmaster's lap. "This will set him back greatly. I doubt he'll survive the next round of the Dark Lord's playing. His spying days may be done."

"I couldn't agree more," Dumbledoore said as the door to Snape's quarters opened to let them leave. "Especially now that he has someone to live for."

His thoughts were askew. Again. Severus tried to rouse himself from the stupor of sleep his mind was trapped in. The dream was over and the older woman in it who pleaded he take responsibility for her granddaughter, gone.

The ghost that had been plaguing his consciousness was the victim of a Death Eater plot gone wrong come to haunt him from the past. One of his early "initiations" when the Dark Lord over looked the mistakes of his promising proteges. She'd pleaded with Severus for her life, bent before him. One of Snape's mentors, Serpens Rookwood, had simply looked at her and sneered with a disdain usually reserved for Muggleborns. She'd died a vicious death -- at Rookwood's hand – and Severus had taken the blame.

He could feel fingers lightly cupped on his wrist. Blasted mediwitch taking his pulse. He moaned lightly trying to draw back from the touch, but finding himself too weak to do much but mumble. Severus leaned back into the bed pillows trying to read his body's normal cues and eavesdropping on the conversation.

"...six days..." "... heal damage?..." "... much as ... could be..." "... needs time... may never..." "...could bounce back..."

Severus managed to open his eyes to Albus, Poppy and a Healer he didn't know standing over him speaking as if he weren't there. Albus looked down and grasped his potion master's hand.

"Welcome back, Severus."

His throat parched, Snape tried to nod in reply as a glass of cool water was brought to his lips. Cool water refreshed his dry mouth.

"What happened?"

"You had a potions overdose," the unknown Healer stepped in from around the side of his bed.

"You've got to be kidding!" Severus sneered, trying to place the familiar-looking face.

"Here us out, Professor Snape," the brown-haired woman continued. "After Poppy initially treated you for the heat stroke and the passum spell, she later gave you gensing, to raise your blood pressure, which was still low, despite all the potions in your system. And then you left hospital and took your care into your own hands without consulting her about what you'd been given. And then you took a restorative and PepperUp on top of the gensing, which needs a week to clear! And the base for PepperUp is ma huang, the botanical source of---"

"Ephedrine. Yes, I'm quite aware of the nature of the overdose, Ms. Smorgdenbach, I do not require a potions lesson," Severus tried to rise off the pillows, Albus hand staying him.

"What Lavenia is saying is that you had a heart attack from the amount of stimulants in your system," Poppy stated plainly. "I am so sorry, Severus. I should have bound you to your bed."

"Now, now," Albus smoothed Snape's reddening forehead with his wrinkled hand, effectively calming the irate man. "We needn't have you undoing all the work Poppy and Lavenia have done. Your convalescence will be a long one, into the start of term, I'm afraid.

"I see you've got this all figured out, Albus," Severus jerked his finger toward the Healer.

"We've also leaked word of a volatile potions explosion--"

"Albus! The indignity--"

"Is mine," the headmaster explained. "Kingsley and I have concocted a nice tale that does not impugn your skills, Severus. Hogwarts is quarantined to outsiders, though we did allow Lucius Malfoy to ascertain your grave condition."

"The Dark Lord must be quite pleased with the story you've master-minded this time."

"It is necessary, Severus. The 'muggle' we found nearly 10 days ago is not a muggle," Albus paused, not sure to divulge the next bit of information.

"I had guessed, Albus. But I will need to know this story when I return to the Dark Lord's next revel. My absence will not go unheeded for the next two months. He has potions for me to brew, ere I lose my usefulness to him."

"No need, Severus. Voldemort knows you were injured in the explosion. He sent Lucius to ascertain how badly off you were."

"And what did Lucius have to say?"

"Poppy kept you in a coma so your heart could get some rest and Lavenia got to play with her Muggle medical supplies. Poppy? Could you come here for a minute?"

"Explain why I have been here for six days." Severus sighed, closing his eyes, knowing he was being managed and wondering what sort of Muggle contraptions he'd been subjected to.

"Albus had placed a tracking charm on you. But by the time we got to you, your heart was quivering, it wasn't beating. I did my best to repair the damage as it occurred, but given what you had taken, you should have died. About 50 percent of your heart muscle died, Severus. I could only repair about 35 percent of that. Even the Draught of Living Death couldn't completely counteract what was going on in your heart. The electrical system was out of sync, your nervous system wasn't responding and you stopped breathing for a few moments."

"Fifteen percent of your heart is dead, Severus," Albus quietly intoned. "You will not survive another bout of Cruciatus. I believe Voldemort will become less enamored of you even if you recover as fully as possible."

"Yes," Poppy stepped in. "You need sleep and rest and tomorrow we'll test your stamina."

"But Lucius--," Snape protested as Poppy pressed a vial of Dreamless Sleep to his lips.

"Saw your grave injuries," Albus said. "We'll talk about the details later."


	6. More Than You Can See

The halls of Hogwarts seemed empty with the students away for summer hols. Arianne had been transfigured a room near Professor McGonogall's office on the first floor, complete with her own house elf. Her cold cleared up by the kind mediwitch, she'd sat near the fireplace reading an old potions book left on the shelf, but mostly wondering where Headmaster Dumbledoore was. But he'd been preoccupied with Snape and the aftermath of the dark-haired man's potions overdose.

"My dear, cheer up, surely things can't be that bad," the mirror over the fireplace said.

"You're a mirror, you can't possibly know my situation. I kindly suggest you shut it," the girl intoned without looking away from the book.

"Perhaps I can help you with your situation Miss Turtleson, if you'd come to my office," Dumbledoore's voice floated over the Victorian-decorated room.

Arianne closed the tome, holding it in the crook of her arm as she and the headmaster winded their way to the topmost tower.

"I suppose you will be visiting me a lot in the next few weeks, Miss Turtleson. Please note that my password is 'Hershey's.' "

The stone gargoyle swung open and Arianne found herself floating up toward a speck of light. A chintz chair popped itself into existence for her as the headmaster moved to sit behind his desk.

"Your phoenix seems to like me," Arianne said as the plumed bird nestled onto the back of her chair.

"Fawkes is a good judge of character, Miss Turtleson. Would you care for a sherbert lemon? No? Now, tell me how you came to Hogwarts."

"Mum said she was part of an order and if anything ever happened to her to come here. She disappeared a few weeks ago after going to check up on a guy named Abe."

"Ahh, yes, the yet-to-be-named Graham Abelard," Dumbledoore sighed. "She was protecting him, wasn't she?"

"Yes. But there is no news. I don't know if she or Abe are dead. When Mum didn't come back, I put our plan into play.

"And that was...?"

"To get to Hogwarts without using magic. Mum said the Death Eaters can track magical signatures and that if she'd been captured, they could easily track me by my magic."

"Hmm," Albus stroked his white beard. "And where did you come from?"

"From our house," Arianne replied.

"Yes, I realize--"

"I can't tell you. Fidelius, sir. Though it was quite a long trip."

"Your mum made you the secret keeper." The beard was stroked again. "Probably not an unwise choice."

The two wizards stared off into space for a few moments.

"And your father--"

Arianne jerked out of her stupor. "You know him?"

Dumbledoore coughed momentarily into his teacup. "No child, I was going to ask you about him."

"I never met him. Mum doesn't talk about him much. Says it's undignified to speak of the devil."

"Well, I'm sure he was a good man. But he's out of the picture for the moment. Perhaps when we find your mother, we'll rectify that situation."

"You mean he's alive? You do know who he is, you were lying when you said you didn't."

Dumbledoore sighed, he was getting old, to have let that 15-year-old secret out of the bag. "What I meant was that--"

"Don't lie to me! I can see it in your eyes," Arianne screeched, her dark eyes starting to flash green. Glass rattled in the window pane and Fawkes began to croon lowly. A vein above the girl's eye started twitching madly. Dumbledoore stood slowly.

"Arianne. You are a natural-born Legilimens, like your father, but there are things going on here that could endanger everyone involved. If I reveal the identify of your father to you, it could have grave consequences for both your mother and you and him."

He reached out and smoothed the teen's forehead in a calming manner. "Voldemort may well have your mother. But I will not let him get your father too by divulging secrets. You must understand child. And you must be careful to use your gift wisely. I rarely let my guard down, but your mother is like one of my own children. I fear for her safety as do you."

Arianne leaned into the headmaster's soothing touch, the fire that had been burning in her settling back into her chest. He was becoming the grandfather she'd never had. The grandfather she'd never known, on either side of the family. At the least, an adult who cared in her mother's absence.

"Mum never says anything about our family, headmaster."

"She has been protecting you in more ways than what you can see Arianne. You are all she has left."


End file.
